Snooker: Sport or Game?
antsmcgill Anthony McGill
What's the difference between a sport and a game? Trying to settle a debate
and this:
judd147t judd trump
"ding has just handed me a challenge - a rematch with him on the 17-18 sept in gaungzhou, i accept!"
on Twitter earlier and during the course of the day it opened up a whole line of debate.
A Judd Trump v Ding Junhui big money match over in China sounds like something dreams are made of for someone like Judd. And obviously it's something people in China would turn up in big numbers to see given the stock of both after Judd's China Open win, Ding being a household name and their incredible Crucible semi-final.
But the date mentioned clashes with the Brazilian Masters which is taking place between 15-18th September, which incidentally explains the absense of Judd and Ding from the official line up in Brazil announced last week. However, the rules were changed at the end of last season so all televised snooker events must be agreed by World Snooker prior to taking place so it won't happen, certainly not on those dates.
The (presumably) big money match with no doubt massive amounts of money being gambled across China sure sounds like a big event. But is it sport?
The Brazilian Masters as a non-ranking invitational event was turned down by some other big names too, notably the usually ever present Mark Williams and John Higgins - would this have been the case if it was a ranking event? Of course not! Is the Brazilian Masters invitational a sporting event or an exhibition event? If it was a ranking event would that change it from a game into a sport?
The recent snooker World Cup in Thailand with all the nations represented by two man teams was like something you'd see at the Olympic games. Not the most gripping event at times with some of the lower nations struggling and matches lasting several hours longer than they should have, but it was really competitive with the players representing their countries as well as each other. It wasn't a ranking event but it mattered to a lot of people and it was played 100% as a sport.
The Ding v Trump match sounds like the Ronnie v Jimmy match which recently took place as part of the Snooker Legends tour. As a one off people turn up in numbers, hell Snooker Legends are still selling the event for download on their website! But really, can this side of snooker be classed in the same bracket of snooker as a PTC in terms of snooker being a sport?
The Premier League, great event that it is, uses a shot clock and has an invitational field. Granted it improved the criteria this time around (albeit sneakily allowing Jimmy in through the Seniors Champion back door), but with dead matches towards the end of the league stage and a shot clock, is this sport?
So, what is the difference between snooker as a sport and a game and why does it matter?
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